An occasional commentary on things of interest to me that are related to my life here in Thailand, including movies, music, video games, books, art, history, culture, food and drink, tourism and current affairs.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

I, like most women, love shopping! And I think Bangkok must be one of the best places on earth to go shopping, because there are so many wonderful shopping centers, plazas and markets.

My favourites are:

MBK Center and Siam Discovery Center, which can both easily be reached from the BTS Skytrain "National Stadium" station.

Siam Center and Siam Paragon Center, which are near the first two centers above, but which can be more easily reached from the "Siam" Skytrain station. The lovely Siam Square is also near here, which is mostly an outdoor shopping area.

Central World Center (reported to be the largest shopping complex in southeast Asia), which is about halfway between the "Siam" and "Chit Lom" Skytrain stations, with an elevated walkway that connects the two stations to the center.

All the centers above have shops catering to all tastes and budgets, selling just about everything you can imagine. MBK has perhaps the cheapest shops including a large indoor fashion market, while Siam Paragon has the most expensive shops. All the centers also have large numbers of restaurants, as well as food courts, providing cuisine from all around the world. They also all have their own multi-screen cinemas. Siam Paragon also has an IMAX cinema and a Sea Life center.

Also well worth a visit is the Chatuchak Giant Flea Market, which is near the "Mo Chit" Skytrain station - this market is very cheap and is best visited at the weekend, because this is when all the stalls are full of vendors selling everything from clothes, shoes, technology, food and even pets.

Another very interesting market is the night market in the famous Patpong District, near the "Sala Daeng" Skytrain station. The market is in the middle of the street between the many go-go bars of Patpong, so it can be a bit risque! The market mainly sells copies of designer clothes and goods.

If you somehow get bored of all of those dream shopping destinations, there are lots of other great centers such as the exclusive Gaysorn Designer Center near the "Chit Lom" Skytrain station, and the Emporium Center near the "Phrom Phong" Skytrain station.

This is Part 2 of a series about popular youth culture in Thailand(see here for Part 1)

Power Rangers is another big favorite with children here in Thailand, although mostly we get the original Japanese version called "Super Sentai", and not the Saban/BVS/Disney American re-made version that is more famous outside of Asia. (This is the same as with the similar American "Masked Rider" series, also by Saban, which is based on the Japanese original "Kamen Rider".)

Power Rangers VCDs and DVDs, containing episodes of the Japanese Super Sentai TV series dubbed into Thai, are extremely popular with Thai children because they can be bought for as little as 30 Baht each in supermarkets like Tesco-Lotus and Big-C. Power Rangers toy figures are another favourite with the children. Indeed, my son absolutely loves the VCDs and toys!

Here are some fun Power Rangers online games that you might like to play (from the Dan-Dare.org free fun and games site):

Monday, December 28, 2009

I recommend these Bangkok budget hotels based on my own happy experiences of staying in each of them with my husband on city-break vacations. They're all in Soi 4 (Soi Nanatai) of the famous Nana District of Sukhumvit Road, within easy walking distance of the BTS Skytrain "Nana" station:

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Pokemon have always been very popular with young people here in Thailand, especially the anime cartoon TV series. The Pokemon trading card game and the Nintendo GameBoy video games are also popular at the moment.

There are some very interesting collectors shops on the top floor of the MBK shopping center in Bangkok (near the BTS Skytrain "National Stadium" station) that buy and sell Pokemon trading cards, and also Pokemon video games and collectible figures. It is even possible to buy secondhand video game consoles in the MBK center, such as the 1997 Nintendo 64 console with the classic Pokemon Stadium game included.

Online games are becoming increasingly popular with Thai children, as more and more Thai families can now afford to buy PCs and have the internet at home. Video game consoles such as the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox are also becoming very popular now, again as a result of Thai families having more disposable income nowadays. But unfortunately a lot of the console games are quite violent by traditional Thai standards, and this is a cause of great concern for parents and authorities here.

Here are some great non-violent Pokemon online games that you can play for free (from the Dan-Dare.org fun and games site):

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Hello, my name is Sureephon, or Su for short. In this blog I will be writing about anything that I feel is of interest relating to my life here in Thailand, such as movies, music, games, art, popular culture and current affairs for example.